As the first bank holiday looms, combined with the traditional spring-cleaning time approaching, many Brits will be beginning to think about the doing some DIY in their homes.
Whether it’s putting up shelves or trying to fix the leaky tap, the survey, carried out by Myhammer, found that Brits are not very good at doing it themselves.
Over 24 per cent of those surveyed admitted that they had experienced a DIY disaster in the last 12 months, which had cost an average £145 to put right.
Another 42 per cent then agreed that they wished that they had hired a tradesman before attempting jobs themselves.
Gerrit Mueller, general manager of MyHammer, said, ‘If you are not terribly skilled it can be more cost effective to pay for work to be done, to be sure of a professional job and also to save you money in the long run.’
However, getting the wrong builder in can be just as costly.
John Russell, building expert for Channel 5’s Cowboy Builders, said, ‘The consequences of getting DIY wrong can be catastrophic. What may seem an achievable task can end up costing hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds to put right. Over the years I have been to numerous homes were DIY has gone disastrously wrong.’
Reminising on one of the situations he has heard about, Russell said, ‘On one occasion a home owner attempted to remove a chimney stack from the roof by tying a rope around it and then attaching it to his tow bar and driving off. The result was thousands of pounds worth of damage to his roof on job that should have cost a few hundred pounds. Although this may seem an extreme case, the fact remains that the home owner thought they were doing the right thing.’
